On-Demand Staging for Compound Asset Browsing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current cloud computing systems require clients to restore entire compound assets over high-latency networks to access discrete items, leading to unnecessary time and bandwidth usage, and increased storage needs when backing up both discrete and compound assets.
Innovation Solution
Implementing on-demand staging in cloud computing environments, where only requested discrete items are restored by temporarily staging a portion of the compound asset, allowing access to its internal structure to generate an asset directory and extract specific items without requiring the entire asset to be stored or transmitted.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the entire compound asset is restored over the network to access discrete items, then the client can access any item within the asset, but the restoration time and bandwidth usage increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary discrete items from the compound asset for restoration, rather than restoring the entire asset. The system identifies and restores only the specific files or data portions that the client needs, leaving the rest of the compound asset remaining in the cloud storage system.
Solution Approach 2:
The compound asset is segmented into discrete items or portions, allowing the client to access and restore only the specific segments needed. The system provides a file browser interface that displays the internal structure of the compound asset, enabling selective restoration of individual files or folders rather than the entire asset.
2Ease of operation
If the entire compound asset is restored over the network to access discrete items, then the client can access any item within the asset, but the bandwidth usage increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and transmits only the necessary discrete items from the compound asset over the network, rather than transmitting the entire asset. This selective extraction significantly reduces the amount of data that needs to be transferred across the network while still providing the client with access to the specific items they need.
3Productivity
If both discrete items and compound assets are backed up, then the client can restore individual items quickly, but the storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy or representation of the compound asset's internal structure in the cloud storage system, allowing the client to browse and select discrete items without physically restoring the entire asset. This virtual representation enables fast access and selection while avoiding the need to store multiple copies of the same data in different formats.
Data Source
AI summary
Example embodiments relate to asset browsing and restoration over a network using on demand staging. A method may include accessing, by a storage access system, a first portion of a compound asset in a storage system and restoring it as a staged asset in a staging area of the storage access system. The accessing and restoring of the first portion may be performed on demand in response to an indication from a client device to browse a portion of the compound asset. The method may further include accessing the internal structure of the staged asset to generate an asset directory. The asset directory may indicate discrete items within the compound asset. The method may further include providing the asset directory to the client device over a network, and receiving an indication from the client device of at least one of the discrete items to restore to the client device.